FP5 has important role in job creation
The European Commission (EC) is looking to the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) on Research, Technological development and Demonstration (RTD) to raise the scientific and technological capabilities of the European Union (EU), according to a Communication it has adopted on EU policies to boost job creation. The Communication advocates a balanced mix of macro-economic policies, improved national employment policies and reform in product, services and capital markets in order to tackle the EU's employment problems. In the EU, 61% of the working age population are at work compared with over 70% in both the United States and Japan. "Raising the EU employment rate is our number one priority," said Padraig Flynn, Acting Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner, following adoption of the paper. "We need both growth and structural reforms for more and better jobs; arguments about which element is the more important are simply sterile and, therefore, unhelpful." The Communication forms part of the Commission's contribution to a proposed European employment pact. The Commission will support Member States by: - Encouraging and supporting investment in capital and human resources in order to strengthen the EU economy; - Promoting structural reforms to make markets work better and help achieve sustainable growth and employment; - Promoting the modernization of social protection and taxation systems in order to improve work incentives and opportunities for getting (back) onto the labour market. The Commission acknowledges that one of the EU's major weaknesses is its low investment levels. The EU's macroeconomic strategy supports higher levels of investment for job growth. The main sources of EU assistance will be the reformed Structural Funds, with European Social Fund support for human resources, and FP5 helping to raise the EU's scientific and technological capabilities.